Shoe tree



June 12, 1951 STEWART 2,556,637

SHOE TREE Filed April 19, 1948 Fig.2 80

Inventor Tyle P. Stewart Wadi Patented June 12,

UNITED STATES amen-r o sric E?! Tyler P. Stewart, Mason City, Iowa Application April 19, 1948, Serial No. 21,960

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in shoe trees, and the principal object of the invention is to provide a self-adjusting shoe tree to which shoes of different types and sizes may be exped'itiously applied or removed.

An important feature of the invention lies in its simplicity of construction, in its convenient manipulation, and in its adaptability to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects and features in view and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention consists essentially of the construction and arrangement of parts as shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partially broken away, of a shoe tree attached to a support arm;

Figure 2 is a top plan view partially broken away, of the subject shown in Figure 2; and

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view, taken substantially in the plane of the line 3-3 in Figure 1;

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the invention consists of a shoe tree designated generally by the reference numeral 14.

The shoe tree assembly 14 comprises a substantially semi-circular heel plate 16 which is removably mounted by a wing bolt 18 on a reduced shank 12 of a suitable support 10. The assembly 14 also includes a toe member 80 which simply assumes the form of a toe-shaped shell removably secured by screws 82 to a vertical supporting plate 84, and adjustable means are employed for connecting the toe member 80 to the heel plate 16 as will be presently described.

These means include a pair of spaced parallel tubes 86 secured at one end to the plate 84, while further tubes 88, secured at one end to the heel plate I6 are slidably telescoped in the tubes 86, as is best shown in Figure 2.

The tubes 88 are formed with pairs of diametrically opposed slots 90 to slidably accommodate transverse pins 92' provided in the tubes 86, and compression springs 94 are positioned in the tubes 88 between the pins 92 and the heel plate 16, as will be clearly apparent. By virtue of this arrangement the heel plate 16 and the toe member 80 are urged in relatively opposite directions, but at the same time, are prevented from becoming separated by the pins 92 in the slots 90.

Needless to say, by simply pressing the toe member toward the heel plate 16 against resiliency of the springs 94, the shoe tree may be inserted in a shoe, whereupon the springs 94 will urge the heel plate and the toe member in opposite directions so that the shoe is firmly and securely retained in position on the shoe tree.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be clearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a shoe tree, the combination of a substantially semi-circular heel member adapted for attachment to a support, a horizontal inner tube extending forwardly from the flat chordal surface of said heel member and provided in diametrically opposite sides thereof with a pair of longitudinally extending slots, a horizontal outer tube slidably telescoped on the forward portion of said inner tube, a toe member mounted at the forward end of the outer tube, a transverse pin provided intermediate the ends of the outer tube and slidable in said slots, and a compression spring positioned in the inner tube, one end of said spring bearing against said heel member and the remaining end thereof bearing against said pin, whereby said heel and toe members are urged in opposite directions, said toe member comprising a vertical supporting plate provided with an aperture having the front end of said outer tube secured therein, a forwardly extending toe-shaped shell having its rear portion positioned on marginal edges of said plate, and a fastening element extending through the shell into the plate for removably retaining the shell in position thereon.

TYLER P. STEWART.

(References on following page) REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 417,454 Watts Dec. 17, 1889 632,776 Brooks Sept. 12, 1899 648,418 Lloyd May 1, 1900 792,150 Morton June 13, 1905 1,225,811 Hasty May 15, 1917 1,465,271 Howe Aug. 21, 1923 1,490,867 Vlavianos Apr. 15, 1924 Number Number 4 Name Date Hadley July 8, 1924 Kosters Sept. 14, 1926 White June 18, 1929 Robey Feb. 10, 1931 Robison Oct. 27, 1931 LaMarca et a1 May 7, 1935 Whenham Dec. 24, 1935 Mutch Sept. 9, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Austria Feb. 10, 1932 

